Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year

Updated 8:37 AM ET, Fri September 6, 2013

Photos: Rosh Hashanah 201314 photos

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – An Orthodox Jewish man marks Rosh Hashanah at Brooklyn Bridge Park during a traditional Tashlich ceremony in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Thursday, September 5. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, started at sundown Wednesday and runs through Friday. It is a time for reflection and repentance that leads up to Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

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Photos: Rosh Hashanah 201314 photos

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – Jews read the Tashlich prayer on the beach in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on September 5.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – A woman reads a prayer book during a shofar ceremony and Tashlich prayer for Rosh Hashanah at the College of Central Florida in Ocala on September 5.

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Photos: Rosh Hashanah 201314 photos

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – Rabbi Yossi Hecht blows the shofar during a ceremony in Ocala, Florida, on September 5. Hecht held the Tashlich (to cast) for people to cast their sins out over the water in order to start the new year with no sins.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – Orthodox Jewish men pray at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday, September 4.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – A tourist prays alongside an Orthodox Jewish man at the Western Wall on September 4.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – A young man prays at the Western Wall on September 4. Jewish people in Israel welcomed the new year late Wednesday despite turmoil brewing on the country's borders in Egypt and especially Syria.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish worshipers gather at the Western Wall on September 4.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – Men and women pray on opposite sides of a separation fence at the Western Wall on September 4.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – Israeli police officers detain a Palestinian man during clashes ahead of Rosh Hashanah in Jerusalem's Old City on September 4. Police said hundreds of demonstrators tried to block a group of visitors from reaching a hilltop compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount. Some of the protesters were arrested after allegedly throwing stones at visitors.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – A young Jewish boy prays for forgiveness and mercy at the Western Wall on September 4.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – An Orthodox Jewish man prays under a shawl on September 4 in Jerusalem's Old City.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – A Jewish woman prays in Jerusalem's Old City on September 4.

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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – Orthodox Jewish men walk along the Western Wall on September 4.